Source: Hotel Business
July 21, 2020
WASHINGTON—As lawmakers consider additional legislation to address the ongoing health crisis and economic fallout from COVID-19, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) sent a letter to Congress calling for additional help in several areas, including extending the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for severely impacted businesses and their employees; creating targeted lending facilities and liquidity measures to help hoteliers meet debt service; and passing tax reforms to benefit both hotel employees and employers. Together, these provisions will help ensure hotels can retain and rehire employees, protect employees and guests, keep hotel doors open and incentivize Americans to travel again when it’s safe.
The hotel industry has been historically impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the leisure and hospitality sector has lost 4.8 million jobs since February—more jobs than construction, manufacturing, retail, education and health services combined. The human toll on hotel employees and the hotel workforce is devastating, with hotels still staffed at less than half their pre-pandemic levels. The economic impact is the worst the industry has ever faced.
